00:00:01.340 - 00:00:45.530

Yeah, yeah. San Francisco in 1900 was a city coming of age. Wealthy, cosmopolitan. It was on the brink of fulfilling its destiny as the Paris of the Pacific. Mhm. The View down Market Street revealed a bustling city

00:00:45.530 - 00:01:13.090

filled with horseless carriages, cable cars and sophisticated men and women wearing the latest fashions. At the opening of this century, San Francisco had led a charmed life. It was a city on a roll. With a population of some 350,000, San Francisco was the ninth largest city

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in the country. It had the preeminent port on the West Coast that moved more goods than all of the other West Coast ports combined. It had a brand new city hall with copper dome that was larger and grander than the one in Washington, D. C. It

00:01:31.390 - 00:01:52.140

had one of the largest luxury hotels in the world, the 800 room Palace Hotel. It had completed Golden Gate Park, one of the finest city sanctuaries in the country, and San Francisco's society was enjoying European opera singers, cordon Bleu chefs. They were going to Delmonico's on

00:01:52.140 - 00:02:12.420

Market Street and eating oysters and champagne. San Franciscans were also optimistic the city had made a full recovery from the devastating worldwide depression of the late 19th century. Everything was available in San Francisco in the way of vice and sin, and it was. It prided itself

00:02:12.420 - 00:02:31.490

on that. As a matter of fact, it had wine. It had a strong Latin culture, especially in the North Beach area, its hills and it's pastels next to the Golden Gate. And this all contributed to this bohemian Mediterranean equality, which was really very much unlike any

00:02:31.490 - 00:02:52.850

other city in America at that time. It was a time of real revelry and joy in the city, but that would start to crumble. In the springtime of that first year, the body of a Chinese laborer was discovered in a Chinatown hotel. The cause of death

00:02:53.240 - 00:03:20.350

was the bubonic plague. Plague was only found in Chinese inhabitants of Chinatown is where almost all men single men that lived in these various tenement houses. Because San Francisco was the leading West Coast shipping and manufacturing center, the city was an official denial. Mayor James Duval

00:03:20.350 - 00:03:39.350

feelin sent a telegram to the mayors of 50 eastern cities, assuring them that all was well in San Francisco. It would have been very bad for business, and therefore they took the position of denying this presence. The plague had killed three quarters of the population in

00:03:39.350 - 00:03:58.390

14th century Europe and Asia. In San Francisco's Chinatown of 1900 there was fear of an epidemic because of its overcrowded conditions. 25 people were living in a 12 square block area. The Chinese had a great fear that the plague diagnosis was going to be used against

00:03:58.390 - 00:04:22.740

them. China Town had been considered to be a nest of disease and prostitution and gambling. One newspaper, in fact, suggested that Chinatown be eradicated, stating clear the foul spot from San Francisco and give the debris to the flames. But that would not happen. White property owners

00:04:22.740 - 00:04:49.020

who owned 90% of Chinatown. We're making too much money. Eventually, a cleaning campaign was implemented. Rats were exterminated, buildings demolished and wooden basements cemented. But for some, it was too late. 1922 officially documented victims died from the disease. San Francisco's troubles continued in April of the

00:04:49.020 - 00:05:07.380

next year. Employees from the United Railroads company went on strike by the end of July. Cooks, waiters, machinists and longshoremen had also walked out. Mayor feel an attempted to mediate the dispute. Being an Irish Catholic, he very much appealed to the Irish Catholic workers, who are

00:05:07.390 - 00:05:27.940

probably the the majority of the working class in San Francisco at that time. But the mayor, who was a conservative Democrat, allowed San Francisco's police to serve as strikebreakers, angering labor. When he uses the police, he is very much criticized by the by certain church leaders

00:05:27.950 - 00:05:50.120

and by the Irish Catholic working class. By September, there were 20,000 unemployed and 200 ships tied up on the waterfront. There was sabotage, threats, rioting. Five people were killed. The city was in crisis. You've got the city that has absolutely carry carried itself apart. After months

00:05:50.120 - 00:06:06.440

of conflict, the bitter strike was settled when Governor Henry Gage threatened to bring in the military and declare martial law. As for feeling he had lost, he would never again run for mayor of San Francisco. There was a tremendous revulsion against feeling that time feeling, of

00:06:06.440 - 00:06:27.730

course, then decides not to run for re election. Um, and that's when you get the rise of the Union Labour Party, 19 oh two, the city was lighted by electricity. Buffalo Bill Cody came to town with his Wild West Show at the top of Nob Hill.

00:06:27.930 - 00:06:46.490

Construction began on the Fairmont Hotel, and Eugene Schmitz, a violin player who was the candidate of the newly formed Union Labour Party, became San Francisco's new mayor. The election of handsome Jean, as he was also known, marked the beginning of one of the most corrupt administrations

00:06:46.490 - 00:07:11.160

in the city's history. Bandleader union leader with parents who were both Irish and German Catholic, Schmitz was an ideal mayor for the city of San Francisco. Mayor Schmitz, despite his good looks, didn't really run the city. It was being run behind the scenes by brilliant but

00:07:11.160 - 00:07:33.940

totally unscrupulous lawyer named Abraham Roof, often known as just Boss Roof, a native San Franciscan. A proof was a very ambitious lawyer who divided the spoils of extortion and bribery. The kickbacks included the granting of liquor licenses to so called French restaurants, where prostitution flourished. There

00:07:33.940 - 00:07:52.760

were other profitable deals with many of the city's leading businesses, like the United Railroads Company, which paid a proof $200,000 to ensure that overhead trolley lines would be allowed because it was cheaper than building them underground. Those same overhead lines are seen in San Francisco today.

00:07:53.440 - 00:08:10.250

In the corrupt partnership between the mayor, the Board of Supervisors and Boss Roof. Anything was available for a price. Boss Roof was about as unscrupulous as they come in early years. He was actually an idealist. He was somewhat of a reformer, but he found that that

00:08:10.250 - 00:08:30.190

would get you nowhere in a city like San Francisco. And so he very quickly learned that to get ahead in the city, you would have to be corrupt, and he really went at it with great enthusiasm, with great gusto. But despite the growing scandal within its

00:08:30.190 - 00:08:50.750

political and business culture, San Francisco's everyday life continued to thrive. It was, after all, an emerging metropolis visited by American presidents, from William McKinley to Teddy Roosevelt's triumphant arrival in May of 19 oh three, the popular president and Spanish American War hero was greeted in the

00:08:50.750 - 00:09:08.920

bright sunshine by thousands of flag waving schoolchildren on Van Ness Avenue. Roosevelt had come to San Francisco to dedicate the DUI monument in Union Square. A year later, right across the street from the new monument, an opulent hotel opened its doors for the first time. Called

00:09:08.920 - 00:09:29.910

the ST Francis, it was built in two years at a cost of $2.5 million. And there's a telephone in every single room, and that just totally thrilled people in North Beach. Six months later, a converted saloon on Washington Street became home to a new bank, the

00:09:29.920 - 00:09:50.080

Bank of Italy. Amadeo Peter AP Giannini was the bank's founder. A. P. Giannini is one of the most important men in San Francisco's history, certainly in California's history. And I'd say, even in national history. The son of Italian immigrants, A. P. Giannini was born in San

00:09:50.080 - 00:10:11.870

Jose in 18 70 when the family moved to San Francisco, the young and ambitious AP worked after school for his stepfather in the wholesale produce business. Giannini had talent. He knew people. He liked people who like to talk to them. He understood the merchant mentality. Giannini

00:10:11.870 - 00:10:27.390

believed a bank should be democratic, open to everyone, especially the working man who kept his money under the mattress. The story is he would feel the callouses on their hands and tell them how hard they were. He built up a trusting relationship, and on that he

00:10:27.390 - 00:10:45.520

built a bank. Many, like a P. Giannini, believed in San Francisco's growth and prosperity in its destiny as the Paris of the Pacific. There was even an ambitious plan to redesign the city and the image of Europe's other great capitals. But San Francisco's turn of the

00:10:45.520 - 00:11:05.950

century optimism was in trouble. In October of 19, oh five, the National Board of Underwriters issued a critical report declaring that the city's water system would be inadequate when confronted by a major fire. The board's findings would haunt the fire chief, Dennis Sullivan. That same year,

00:11:06.090 - 00:11:26.760

handsome Jean Schmitz was reelected the city's mayor for a third term, but his corrupt administration was in serious trouble. The forces of reform. We're ready to begin a full scale assault on what had become a growing public scandal. The investigation, however, is interrupted its future as

00:11:26.760 - 00:11:51.940

well as that of a P. Giannini. Dennis Sullivan and the city of San Francisco are now on a collision course, which will link all of them forever. Catastrophe is about to intervene. Uh huh. From all accounts we have, it would seem that the night of April

00:11:51.940 - 00:12:11.670

17th was one of the most glamorous nights in San Francisco's history. It was a Tuesday evening, and 2500 San Franciscans packed the Grand Opera House on Mission Street to watch the famous Italian tenor Enrico Caruso sing to great acclaim the role of Don Jose in the

00:12:11.670 - 00:12:34.270

opera Carmen. On that same spring night, theater patrons could also see actor John Barrymore perform in The Dictator attend the Orpheum for the latest in vaudeville, or the Columbia for Babes in Toyland. After the shows, there was dining and socializing in the city's great restaurants and

00:12:34.270 - 00:12:53.260

hotels. It was the week after Easter Sunday. Everybody had been out having a good time. Some people were still up early in the morning. Carousing about Chief Dennis Sullivan was on duty that night. He had been with the Fire Department for 26 years and had often

00:12:53.260 - 00:13:10.400

battled with city officials over San Francisco's firefighting deficiencies. Sullivan believed the city was not ready to fight a disaster, and 90% of its buildings were made of wood. Fire Underwriters were terrified when they looked at San Francisco and have been ever since the gold rush because

00:13:10.400 - 00:13:26.510

it was so wooden so dry in the houses were so close together, Robert Louis Stevenson described it as a woodyard of unusual extent. It seemed like the whole city was fated to burn. Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, the 18th Sullivan was with his men when they

00:13:26.510 - 00:13:45.880

extinguished a three alarm warehouse fire near Market Street. Became in very late, not wishing to disturb his wife. He went into another bedroom as the early morning hours past Patrolman walked there beats the produce market was busy with activity, and the fun loving crowd in the

00:13:45.880 - 00:14:07.360

saloons of the Barbary Coast was ending its night of partying. On this spring morning, most of the city was still asleep. But before the sun would rise, San Francisco's destiny would be changed forever. Many people say Sodom and Gomorrah, This was Sodom and Gomorrah and, by

00:14:07.370 - 00:14:44.140

golly, it met its fate. Yeah, mhm. Mhm, Yeah. San Francisco met its fate on Wednesday, April the 18th. At 5:12 a.m. The San Andreas fault tore apart. So did the city. The first shock lasted 45 violent seconds. Its impact was devastating, the moment indelible, forever known

00:14:44.150 - 00:15:10.520

as the great San Francisco earthquake. The entire city shook and rattled for relentlessly, it was quite terrifying. San Francisco's world went silent for some 10 seconds. Then the quake became even more violent. Nature in all of its fury had overwhelmed the Paris of the Pacific. And

00:15:10.520 - 00:15:30.140

what everybody remembered, of course, was this great war, which you here in great earthquakes. There's a tremendous roar that comes from everywhere, and it's almost indescribable. But it's part of the terror of the earthquake. Police officers who were on patrol saw the violence of the quake

00:15:30.140 - 00:15:48.900

firsthand. One of them was Jesse Cook, and he stood on the street. Cook described the city streets as moving like waves in the ocean and watched the earthquake basically coming to him. And he talks about just hearing this. This this, this sudden sound begin to get

00:15:48.900 - 00:16:12.800

louder and louder and louder than hearing church bells clang and masonry beginning to fall. He said he was not a carrier dog. Shaking a rat City hall appeared like a skeleton some 27 years of construction at a cost of $7 million destroyed in seconds. The four

00:16:12.800 - 00:16:32.550

story Valencia Hotel collapsed on itself. The exact number of people killed unknown, but estimates were as high as 80. The area with the most severe damage was south of Market near sixth and Howard Streets. It was a densely populated, working class district of tenements built on

00:16:32.550 - 00:16:55.590

landfill, which liquified as many as 500 people may have been killed. If San Francisco had an epicenter, this was it. The buildings down there, which were generally flimsy. Um, they just went to pizzas, especially if they had been built on creeks or swamps. They were thrown

00:16:55.590 - 00:17:13.830

off of their foundations or they actually collapsed. They pancaked at Bush Street. A wall from the eight storey California Hotel fell on the fire station, where Chief Dennis Sullivan and his wife slept. Chief Sullivan, hearing all of this, rushed into the room to check on his

00:17:13.830 - 00:17:33.930

wife, fell through the hole in the floor and fell down On top of all of this debris, Sullivan's wife was fortunate. Her injuries were minor. The chief, however, suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and a fractured skull. San Francisco had lost its fire. Chief Dennis Sullivan

00:17:34.090 - 00:17:52.670

was dying immediately after the quake struck, General Frederick Funston walked swiftly from his home on Washington Street to the top of Nob Hill by This time, the sun had come up a Medal of Honor winner during the war in the Philippines. Funston was shocked by the

00:17:52.670 - 00:18:15.030

devastation. He ordered Army troops from the Presidio to report to a city in trouble. Yeah, the magnitude of the quake, as measured by today's Richter scale, was around 83 the equivalent of some 20 million tons of TNT. The mayor, Eugene Schmitz, was stunned by the quake's

00:18:15.030 - 00:18:34.860

destruction and acted quickly to help his city. Smith issued these draconian orders, his most famous one being to shoot to kill the looters are found downtown. Schmitz also ordered a curfew from dusk till dawn and banned the sale of liquor. San Francisco streets began filling with

00:18:34.860 - 00:19:02.440

refugees, observing with both fascination and horror. A damaged and frightened city. People gathered their belongings, put them into chunks on baby carriages. Uhh, tabletops. Anything that had wheels. Yeah, in Union Square, the Saint Francis Hotel remained standing with minor damage, but hotel guests were afraid and

00:19:02.440 - 00:19:21.980

began to congregate in the area near the DUI monument. They set up tables to feed people. The hotel actually took food from the kitchens of the hotel and was serving refugees out in the park in Union Square, opera singer Enrico Caruso, who had captivated the city

00:19:21.980 - 00:19:43.110

just a few short hours before, was now overwhelmed by the disaster to a gathering crowd in Union Square. Caruso vowed never to return to San Francisco. He never did. Arnold Drenthe, a well known San Francisco photographer, was nearby. When Caruso expressed his desire not to return,

00:19:43.940 - 00:20:03.070

get them moved on. He would take some of the quakes, most memorable pictures. He took the photographs with a camera that he borrowed from a friend who had a camera store that was a small Kodak camera, very fast camera. And he, over the next few days

00:20:03.070 - 00:20:23.440

because he was one of the many made homeless by the earthquake, roamed the city and took pictures of everything. Walking through the same devastation which Arnold Ginther had so carefully photographed was seven year old Marion Cowan, now 99. Cowan remembers to this day the severely damaged

00:20:23.450 - 00:20:45.270

streets and buildings and workmen desperately trying to save the new Fairmont Hotel. Oh, yes, it was panic and everybody working as fast as they could, but it was in the ruins at Stockton and Powell streets, where Marion Colin experienced his most horrifying moment. A big building

00:20:45.270 - 00:21:07.430

had collapsed, and the woman with her young son, I probably about six or seven. We're running out when they arts, where he collapsed on him and people were around trying to get free. But the missionary was in such shape that they were pinned in at the

00:21:07.430 - 00:21:28.060

entrance. And this is the worst thing I was song my life, she said. I know that flames are coming down. And she took me youngster six or seven years old. It was dashing his head against the pavement. It was horrible fire and a mother trapped with

00:21:28.060 - 00:21:46.940

her young son, terrified by the approaching danger. Though a chain reaction of hundreds of shocks had pounded the city throughout the day and night of April 18th, the tragedy was not yet finished. San Francisco was now on the verge of total catastrophe. It was the week

00:21:46.940 - 00:22:27.300

after Easter Sunday, and the city was beginning to burn. Yeah, mm, mhm. Mhm. The city's fire department had 38 engine companies and 575 full time firefighters. They never had a chance. What happened? These fires, but out of control and linked up one with the other. And

00:22:27.300 - 00:22:51.050

soon the whole of the town was one raging. Infernal clouds of black smoke covered the skies. The city's life support systems were in ruins. Gas mains snapped. Water pipes shattered. Fire hydrants useless. Dennis Sullivan's greatest fears became reality. When his men responded to the raging fires.

00:22:55.840 - 00:23:09.640

The Spreckels building was the first building on market Street to catch fire. The fire is an approach from the South was so hot that the windows smashed and all the flammable material on the inside of the Spreckels building caught on fire. And the building went up

00:23:09.640 - 00:23:33.590

like an enormous 19 story torch. Yeah, multiple disasters were happening all at once. Yeah, And when people up on Nob Hill were able to see the Palace hotel starting to burn, which was considered to be absolutely impregnable, and then they knew that the city was probably

00:23:33.600 - 00:24:12.000

doomed. At that point, China town was destroyed. Yeah, so was the financial district. Yeah, really. The Saint Francis Hotel had survived the quake, but not the inferno. Who was firestorms that were being created by the amount of fire. And these just swung around and built themselves

00:24:12.000 - 00:24:34.700

up and and no matter where they basically sat down, people were incinerated. Yeah, the temperature of the fires was estimated at 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. The Grand Opera House where Caruso had sung the night before was in ashes. The Fairmont Hotel was still standing, but completely got

00:24:34.700 - 00:24:57.880

it. Yeah. Refugees carried what they could to safe havens like the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. Thousands were also trying to escape by ferry across the bay. Yeah, In the chaos, there were instances of looting and arrests. There were also killings. Yeah. This charred body was

00:24:57.880 - 00:25:14.310

that of a looter caught trying to burglarize a jewelry store. The looter was turned over to a soldier who shot him at the intersection of post and grant streets. The body was burned at Battery Street. This man was shot dead by a National Guardsmen for stealing

00:25:14.320 - 00:25:33.450

chickens. The body was later tossed into the bay. In the early hours of Thursday, the 19th fires swept through Nob Hill. The great mansions of the city's rich were burning out of control. Everybody thought that the buildings on top of Nob Hill would be safe because

00:25:33.450 - 00:25:48.880

they were so far apart. And in fact, all of them burnt down to the ground because these were all Victorian buildings, wooden buildings in some areas of the city. Dynamite was used with the hope that it could stop the onslaught of the firestorm by creating firebreaks.

00:25:49.640 - 00:26:22.820

It failed. Yeah. By Friday Telegraph Hill was consumed by fire. So was Russian Hill. When night came, the inferno had reached the city's world famous waterfront, but the Navy and the Fire Department were able to save it from complete destruction. It was one

00:26:22.820 - 00:26:43.450

of the few success stories of the quake and fire. Then on Saturday evening, almost four days after the first chuck rain began to fall, the drops echoing in the streets of a destroyed city like a requiem. The miracle had come too late, but San Francisco's hell

00:26:43.840 - 00:27:02.430

was finally over. The San Francisco Fire was one of the greatest disasters in American history. It took out the financial district, the retail district, the produce market, south of market, the industrial zone. There it took out North Beach. It took out Russian Hill, Nob Hill before

00:27:02.430 - 00:27:21.530

it was finally stopped at Van Ness Avenue. It even took out part of the Mission District, So within three days you have a major American city, which simply vanishes off the face of the earth. The battle to save San Francisco ended in failure. Some 500 city

00:27:21.530 - 00:27:48.050

blocks were ravaged 2800 acres, 28 buildings destroyed. There was little which escaped total annihilation. San Francisco was covered in its own ashes. It was a tremendous devastation. 250,000 people rendered homeless. Out of the population of 4000. The initial death toll was listed at almost 500. More

00:27:48.050 - 00:28:17.550

recent research has pushed that number to 3000. Among the dead was Fire chief Dennis Sullivan. Unable to overcome his devastating injuries. Sullivan died three days later. I don't know. Yeah, In the smoke and debris of a city lying in ruins, the question was not could San

00:28:17.550 - 00:28:49.360

Francisco rebuild, but rather, could San Francisco save itself from extinction? Yeah, yeah, Ah, a tragedy in every way. The damage to the city of San Francisco was estimated at $1 billion. It seemed inconceivable, but the nation and the world responded to the catastrophe. Within three days,

00:28:49.370 - 00:29:08.480

America's federal government sent $2 million in relief aid. More would follow. Tent cities emerged 40,000 people were living in Army canvas in Golden Gate Park. Thousands more were housed in the Presidio and Fort Mason or in makeshift Chatty's on the streets. There were long lines for

00:29:08.480 - 00:29:34.750

food and supplies at various relief points. Temporary graves for the dead were dug in Washington square. Insurance companies were overwhelmed. Some made payoffs at discounted prices, but others would not or could not respond to the 90,000 claims against them. In North Beach, the Bank of Italy

00:29:34.750 - 00:29:50.850

was in ruins. But nine days after the quake, a P. Giannini placed an ad notifying San Francisco that his bank would open for business. I think a pig is very important as a symbol and representing a group of people who were very courageous. In the aftermath

00:29:50.850 - 00:30:07.340

of the earthquake and fire on the Washington Street wharf, Giannini set up a makeshift desk of two barrels and aboard and began making loans from the $80 in gold and silver he was able to save. On the day of the quake, Giannini wanted to help people

00:30:07.340 - 00:30:21.450

rebuild their lives and businesses. The Bank of Italy did not have much capital in 19 oh six, it was not a major force in this, but I think that his spirit is his is saying, Yeah, I'm right here. The coals are still hot. The city is

00:30:21.450 - 00:30:38.830

still smoldering. I'm out here lending money. A P. Giannini's gamble paid off. North Beach would be the first San Francisco neighborhood to rebuild. Giannini would be a banker for the rest of his life, eventually creating the largest bank in the world, the Bank of America. But

00:30:38.830 - 00:31:14.460

from the ashes of the quake, Giannini was not alone in trying to renew San Francisco's once promising future. The 10 days after the quake, 220 marriage licenses were issued. By May, thousands of homes were able to use their gastos. 23 street lamps were turned on retail

00:31:14.460 - 00:31:36.690

stores like the City of Paris. Bullock and Jones and the Emporium set up business on Van Ness Avenue. 40 days after the quake, the Little Saint Francis was built near the DUI Monument in Union Square. It was a replica of the original hotel in every way

00:31:37.140 - 00:31:58.540

service, food style and always full. By autumn, there were 40,000 construction workers doing business in the city. I think there's a there's a sense that people want to get back. They want to get back to normal. They want to rebuild the same way as quickly as

00:31:58.540 - 00:32:22.420

possible. But incredibly, in the midst of San Francisco's reconstruction, racism struck at the city's heart and soul, creating an international incident. On October 11th, the San Francisco school board issued a resolution barring Asian Children from the city's public schools. Included were some 90 Japanese Children who

00:32:22.420 - 00:32:43.490

would now have to attend the Oriental Public School on Clay Street to segregate them and not allow them to go to school because of the purported danger to European American Children from Asian Children, as though the Asian Children were some sort of disease that needed to

00:32:43.490 - 00:33:05.610

be quarantined. But racism against Asians in San Francisco was nothing new. The Chinese had endured horrific treatment and even murder in the late 19th century, when angry white mobs burned Chinatown businesses. Around this same time, Japanese immigrants arrived in California Because of their success, they were

00:33:05.610 - 00:33:29.480

viewed as economic rivals, the new yellow peril. But the Japanese also tried to assimilate into American society, observing national holidays like July 4th, learning English, adopting Western dress, the women all arrived wearing Japanese kimono. But as soon as they landed in San Francisco, the first thing

00:33:29.480 - 00:33:52.920

their husbands did was to take him to a Western clothing store to fit them out from head to toe with Western clothing. When news of the school board segregation order reached Japan, there was outrage. The Japanese interpreted this as a major racial insult, and the Japanese

00:33:52.920 - 00:34:13.320

government lodged an official protest with the U. S. State Department, and it became a major diplomatic incident between the two countries. The consequences were potentially dangerous. Japan had become a new world power after its military defeat of Russia in 19 oh five, an angry President Roosevelt

00:34:13.320 - 00:34:32.020

summoned Mayor Schmitz and the school board to a meeting in Washington, D. C. Roosevelt was quite explicit in reading the Riot Act to the San Franciscans and pointed out that they had to clean up their act. A compromise was worked out, the school board rescinded its

00:34:32.020 - 00:34:53.460

segregation order, and Japan agreed in the so called gentlemen's agreement to restrict the immigration of Japanese labor into the United States. But conflict between the two countries and America's Japanese citizens would continue the prejudices and willingness to discriminate against Asians, particularly Japanese, that existed in the

00:34:53.460 - 00:35:18.230

19 hundreds would be a persistent feature of San Francisco public culture throughout the 20th century, up in the World War two. Then, the month after the school board incident, the investigation of City Hall corruption resumed. San Francisco's very public scandal would now become one of the

00:35:18.230 - 00:35:37.290

most dramatic and colorful episodes in its history. On November, the 15th boss, Abe Roof and Mayor Eugene Schmitz were indicted for accepting bribes from the French restaurants. The trials were held in one of the city's few standing buildings. Temples. Sharif, Israel. It quickly became the scene

00:35:37.290 - 00:35:56.020

of another kind of biblical encounter. Boss Abe Roof made a deal for partial immunity, rejected it, then disappeared. Prosecutor Francis Heaney was shot in the head by a rejected juror in the courtroom. The next day, he needs assailant. Morris Haas was found shot to death in

00:35:56.020 - 00:36:15.440

the county jail. A gun in his hand. Prosecutor Heaney would recover from his wound. At the home of Supervisor James L. Gallagher, a bomb exploded. Gallagher was a witness against a proof Police chief William Biggie died under mysterious circumstances and was found floating in San Francisco

00:36:15.440 - 00:36:35.710

Bay, It was biggie who tracked down a roof and arrested him. Fremont older, was the crusading newspaper editor who initiated the public campaign against Roof and Schmitz and secured federal help from President Teddy Roosevelt. Older became an object of revenge. He shunned. He's ostracized. He's forced

00:36:35.710 - 00:36:53.030

to withdraw from Bohemian Club. He's kidnapped and taken on a train down to Los Angeles, where he probably would have been killed had he not been rescued. In the nick of time, the entire board of Supervisors resigned so greedy they were called the paint eaters by

00:36:53.030 - 00:37:11.030

Abe Roof because, as he said, they would eat the paint off a house. The supervisors also cooperated with the prosecution, and none was indicted. Over the course of its life, however, the graft trials issued some three indictments, which included many of San Francisco's leading citizens and

00:37:11.030 - 00:37:31.280

businesses like Home Telephone and PG and E. The first to be convicted was the mayor. Handsome Jean Schmitz, found guilty of extortion and appellate court, later reversed the mayor's conviction. Schmitz was never tried again. By this time, there was also growing sentiment that the trials were

00:37:31.280 - 00:37:51.640

bad for business bad for the city's image, it was giving San Francisco a national black eye. The forces of reform would eventually be defeated. As for Abe Roof, he was convicted of bribery and received a 14 year prison sentence. Roof was the only one who ever

00:37:51.640 - 00:38:08.910

served time in jail a number of years later on Fremont, older who had been his nemesis, who had hounded him into prison. He goes over to visit roof in his cell in San Quentin and comes out visibly shaken and declares that, in fact, Roof had taken

00:38:08.910 - 00:38:25.590

the fall for other men who should at least be in there with him. And then older begins a campaign to get roof sprung from San Quentin and succeeds. Boss Roof served almost five years in San Quentin Prison and was later pardoned, but so much more had

00:38:25.590 - 00:38:45.540

been expected of him. When he was 18. Roof was the valedictorian of his class at UC Berkeley. His senior thesis was called Purity in Politics. As San Francisco's king of Corruption, he had once been worth over a million dollars. When a brief died, he died bankrupt.

00:38:47.420 - 00:39:12.410

Yeah, the years since the Great earthquake, much of the city's debris had been removed the Fairmont Hotel opened on April 18th. It's rebuilding had been guided by a determined young architect, Julia Morgan. She was able to get the Fairmont Hotel built, so that was able to

00:39:12.420 - 00:39:32.200

open one year to the day, exactly after the 19 oh six earthquake and San Franciscans lined up for blocks to go in and see this new luxury hotel that had been rebuilt, and it was said that many of them actually had tears come to their eyes.

00:39:32.210 - 00:39:55.290

It was such an emotional experience, because once they saw this hotel built in all its grandeur, they knew that San Francisco was going to be able to rebuild itself back to its former beauty. Yeah, San Francisco now had a new mayor, Edward Robson Taylor. Described as

00:39:55.290 - 00:40:14.910

a man of integrity. Taylor was also a respected physician at Aquatic Park, the world famous escape artist. Harry Houdini performed his magic when he escaped from chains underwater in 57 seconds. There was a flag raising at Pioneer Park, and a new six day comic strip called

00:40:14.920 - 00:40:42.020

a Mutt appeared in The Chronicle. Mhm. Then, on January 1st 19, oh eight, San Francisco's chief engineer reported that a new building was completed every one hour and 45 minutes. San Francisco's are filled with optimism about the future there had to me. San Franciscans had to

00:40:42.020 - 00:41:07.130

convince themselves that they're sitting, was going to grow into the future, surpass its previous glories and maintain its competitive edge. When 19 oh nine arrived, the normal rhythms of everyday life in San Francisco were more evident. The earthquake more distant. Makoto Hagiwara, who maintained the Japanese

00:41:07.130 - 00:41:25.580

Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, introduced the fortune cookie, the city's first gay bar. The dash had opened for business on Pacific Street in the Barbary Coast. The San Francisco Seals baseball team became champions of the Pacific Coast League, and the city's rebuilding continued to make

00:41:25.590 - 00:41:52.740

progress. The value of new construction was now at $150 million. Homes and businesses were among the 19 oh new buildings, filling the streets trying desperately to become a better city. San Francisco had also saved itself from extinction. On October 19th, the city held the Portola Festival,

00:41:53.110 - 00:42:14.500

Commemorating the 140th anniversary of the discovery of San Francisco Bay. The festival was also used as a public relations gesture to celebrate the city's ongoing recovery from the great earthquake. Like the proverbial Phoenix, a mythological bird which symbolized death and resurrection, San Francisco had risen from

00:42:14.500 - 00:42:43.790

its own ashes. The first decade of this century was the most pivotal in San Francisco's history, in which we would see uh, San Francisco transform from a quaint Victorian berg into a modern American metropolis. When New Year's Eve arrived in 19 oh nine, the city's population

00:42:43.800 - 00:43:10.460

was 415,000. They had survived an apocalypse which saw most of the city's physical and political structures completely obliterated and then rebuilt. It had been a wrenching transformation, but a tumultuous decade had finally ended. Now it seemed everyone could move ahead with renewed optimism. San Francisco's future

00:43:11.000 - 00:44:24.610

was possible. Yeah. Mm, Mhm. Mm Oh, yeah, Uh huh, yeah. Uh huh, Mhm.